Strictly star reveals he danced just hours after attending father's funeral as he addresses 'preventable' death
ok.co.ukStrictly Come Dancing star and former Rugby Union player, Ugo Monye, has opened up about the heartbreaking moment he discovered his father had cancer.The 41 year old TNT Sports pundit revealed that he was unaware of his dad's illness until after his 2021 death, which was three weeks before Ugo appeared on the ITV dancing competition.
Ugo dedicated his first dance with professional partner Oti Mabuse - which took place just hours after the funeral - to his father, Theophilus, who passed away at the age of 81.
Ugo shared that his father, who resided in Nigeria, was diagnosed with prostate cancer during the Covid pandemic, but this information was not relayed to his family by carers until after his passing.This revelation, along with travel restrictions at the time, meant that Ugo never got the chance to bid his father farewell, whom he hadn't seen for several years following Theophilus' move to Nigeria after separating from Ugo's mum over 15 years ago.
The father-of-two was attending a friend's book launch when he received the "shocking" news of his father's demise. Despite the devastating news, Ugo chose not to leave early "in case people started asking questions".
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